It was revealed last month that a 2014 survey app that required Facebook login credentials allowed the survey creator and his team access to their friends' public profile data. In the end, this system captured data from 87 million Facebook users. This data trove wound up in the hands of Cambridge Analytica, a British data analytics firm, which worked for the Donald Trump presidential campaign.

The Cambridge Analytica dustup has resulted in Facebook now being on the defensive; the social media company has trotted out one change after another and CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself recently testified over the course of 10 hours to a joint Senate committee hearing.

The UK parliament is now demanding that Zuckerberg answer its questions, too.

According to the Journal: "Nigel Oakes, the founder of SCL Group, Cambridge Analytica's British affiliate, confirmed that both companies were closing down."

Cambridge Analytica's former CEO, Alexander Nix, was suspended from the company in March 2018, shortly after the revelations broke.

Cambridge Analytica did not immediately respond to Ars' request for comment.

In a statement, the company wrote that it would be filing for bankruptcy in the United States.

"Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations and, despite the Company’s efforts to correct the record, has been vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas," the company said.

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Cyrus Farivar
Cyrus is a Senior Tech Policy Reporter at Ars Technica, and is also a radio producer and author. His latest book, Habeas Data, about the legal cases over the last 50 years that have had an outsized impact on surveillance and privacy law in America, is out now from Melville House. He is based in Oakland, California. Emailcyrus.farivar@arstechnica.com//Twitter@cfarivar